SEATTLE'S LUSTY LADY

Seattle,
WA

hen one thinks of Seattle sexual icons, one
immediately thinks of the Lusty Lady.
Its outrageously humorous marquis' have
entertained visitors and locals for years
(classic examples: "Every Miss Is a
Hit"; "Merry XXX-Mas and a Happy
Nude Year"). It's also known for its casual,
friendly, positive attitude toward stripping. The
front desk people are low-key, clean, polite, and
completely nonjudgmental. The management
are not sleazy pot-bellied cigar-chomping Al
Goldstein clones. They're often women, and are
not intimidating in the least--either to the dancers
or the customers. And
since the dancers are paid an hourly wage,
there's less game-playing and competition,
and far more of a relaxed atmosphere all
around.

In every other town in America, one would
never casually admit to going to a peep
show. But admitting that you stopped into the
Lusty carries no such shame. The unstated
feeling is that, "hey, all of us who work here have
been stripers or go to strip
clubs. There's nothing wrong with that."

Seattle is a small enough town that a Lusty Lady
stripper you saw last night might
work at a latte bar you frequent in the morning,
or she might be a waitress at your
favorite vegetarian restaurant, or might front
your favorite local rock band, or
work on your legal defense team. Heck, she
might even be your chiropractor. Most Lusty
strippers
are open about what they do, feeling that the
experience is positive, fun, completely
natural, even healing. There's an esprit de corps
among "the girls." Yes, they're here to get guys
off, but they're also dancing for each other.

Miss Fyre perfectly represents the Lusty spirit,
and, just as important, the frank,
friendly, and casual Seattle approach to
sexuality.

Monk: Are you from Seattle?

Fyre: I'm a native to Washington and I've lived in
Seattle since I graduated from
high school.

Monk: How many days a week do you do
this?

Fyre: Oh, two or three. I used to work more
frequently at the Lusty Lady, but now
I have so many other things I do.

Monk: So, would we classify you as a sex
worker if you just do peep shows?

Fyre: It's related to sex. You sell the idea of sex.
It's the same thing. It's just
a different genre. You have to feel pretty
comfortable with yourself and what your
doing. It's kind of like being a civil servant. It can
eat your brains if you let
it.

Monk: How can you do it for six hours at a time?
I would get so completely bored.

Fyre: Oh, we entertain ourselves. We're there
for the group therapy. Don't be fooled.
Monk: Tell us about that.

Fyre: Some people I work with, I love to work
with them because I'll just take a look
at them across the room and they'll crack me
up. Or there's some people I love to
work with because of their form. They're so
graceful--you've got to remember to pick
your jaw up off the floor. So, we make our own
entertainment.

Monk: So have you worked in other sex
jobs?

Fyre: I've danced at bachelor parties up the
street. It's just not really worth the
hassle to be there anymore because the
industry as far as adult entertainment
establishments
are really taking a beating right now because of
the four foot laws. Like Deja Vu, places like that,
table dancing clubs. We're a little separate at the
Lusty because
we're behind glass.

Monk: What's the four foot law? Can you
explain that?

Fyre: Other than Rick's in North Seattle, every
other place [in Seattle] has this
four foot law. Patrons and dancers must be
separated by four feet. How are you going
to get tips? Washington state I think is probably
the most conservative as far as
rules and regulations that govern the
entertainment industry.

Monk: How does working at the Lusty Lady
differ from other jobs you've had? What's
unique about the Lusty Lady?

Fyre: There's a lot more camaraderie. There's a
certain bonding that occurs when you
walk around naked with other people. I mean
you get kinda close. It's like family.
It sounds crazy but you make lasting
relationships there. They're like your sisters,
your friends, your buddies.

Monk: It's seems like a sweet place to work. The
management's nice, it's not seedy.

Fyre: Well, when you get past the main desk the
hallways are kind of dark. And it's
otherworldly. It's like being in a movie theater.
You know nuclear holocaust could
happen outside and you'd never know. You have
no windows. Everyone's looking at the
stage. But it's neat. I get to work about an hour
early and I get settled in and I talk
to people as they come and go. It's just the
camaraderie.

Monk: Give me some of the etiquette. What's
the do's and don'ts of a person coming
to a peep show like that?

Fyre: Smile. Ladies love it. Think about it. A
naked woman likes it when you smile
at her. You're happy to see her. And if you
knock on the glass you're going to scare
the little fishes away. We'll swim away from
you.

Monk: Now don't men give orders for what they
want?

Fyre: If a guy goes like this to me (circling the
finger) I'll go (no, no). They want
you to turn around because they want to see
your backside or something. Some girls
take orders. I tell them, "sweetie, I'm not lost.
I don't need directions. I do requests in the
private booth though, come see me
there."

Monk: Are a lot of the dancers lesbians? Or is it
mixed?.

Fyre: It's a pretty evenly mixed. There are ladies
with children, single ladies,
bisexual ladies, lesbian ladies. A little bit of
everything.

Monk: What are the limits of what you are
allowed to do? Can you touch your pussy?

Fyre: You can't. There's no insertion of any kind
on stage.

Monk: But you can put in your own finger.

Fyre: No insertion of any kind. I'm fairly certain
that putting your finger in your
mouth is insertion in the state of Washington. I
don't really do a lot of personal
touching on stage. I'll grab my boobs or might
brush past my crotch. But I try to
save that for the private booth. It's not a
"put your finger in the pussy" stage,
it's a
dance stage. And I'm fairly certain that as far as
guys in their booths, insertion
is probably illegal there too. Some guys ask me,
"is it o.k. if I touch myself?"
And I tell them, "well, I'm not going to tell
anyone if you don't." So, they laugh, they
smile
and that puts them at ease, and they get a little
more comfortable.

Monk: So tell us a little bit about that. Do people
come in and masturbate in the
booth?

Fyre: I'd say anywhere from seventy to eighty
percent.

Monk: So your standing there dancing for guys
that are....

Fyre: Touching themselves, completely.

Monk: Who've dropped all of their clothes
off.

Fyre: Some guys do. I'd say probably about ten
percent. And those are the real exhibitionists.
They'll get in those corner booths where the
windows are real big and just take it
all off.

Monk: So the corner booths are bigger.

Fyre: Oh yeah, and they are two-ways,
because
if there are other customers in the
other booths and they're at the right angle and
close enough, they can see them too.
Naked for God and everybody.

Monk: Do you ever get turned on by these
guys? Do you allow yourself that?

Fyre: For me personally, its more fun if I have a
guy that doesn't come in, whip
it all off and wiggle his weenie at me. It's more
exciting if he shows a little bit
of control but you can tell he's excited and he's
smiling, and he's having a good
time, and he's nice.

It's not a turn-on for me if when that window
starts to open he's already naked and
masturbating. It's like, "you don't need
my
help. What are you in here
for?"

Monk: Give me some of the strange stories that
have happened.

Fyre: Whenever you think you've seen it all,
someone's going to shatter that. Just
like fetishes that people have. Things that they're
really excited by. Anything from
wearing a diaper or ladies underwear. Guys in
suits always wear women's lingerie
underneath. I think it's great. They're in touch
with their feminine side. Guys bring their
own toys in to use on themselves. Or they've
been to the market and bought a zucchini,
or a carrot or something.

Monk: They stick it up their rear.

Fyre: Yeah, you bet. They'll come in and try to
shock me. And I just smile and go,
"oh, that's great."

Monk: How did you get started in erotic dancing?

Fyre: I managed a men's clothing store about
three years. A friend of mine, she started
working doing stripping telegrams, dancing at
bachelor parties. I rode around with
her for a year and watched her make in a
matter of hours, just dancing, what I slaved all
week for. I thought, "God, I could do
this." I got really tired of working my
butt off and not making any money. So I gave
my notice. I did stripping telegrams
for about a year. A girl I knew was working at
the Lusty Lady and she was like, "oh,
you should go work there." So it was a week
later that I'd gone in for my audition and
I was hired.

Monk: Have you had breast transplant?

Fyre: Well, watch this. Are you offended by
breasts? Hold on, I've got to make sure
my nipples look straight. Where's a mirror. Over
here? O.K. Gimme your hands. (The
Monk puts his hand on her breast)
Grab it like you mean it. (He gives the
breast a good squeeze
)

Monk: Those are pretty real. Do they use silicone
anymore? I'm worried about you guys.

Fyre: It doesn't hurt. I didn't go drastic. I went
from a B to a C. I had a great
surgeon. I've had women actually grab my breast
and go, "oh my god, they're real."
"No, they're five grand. Fooled you."
But a lot of people don't know because it's
proportionate with my body.

Monk: Were you an exhibitionist before you
started dancing?

Fyre: I don't know so much as exhibitionist as
extrovert. I'm not offended by nudity.
I'll be the first to stick my boobs against the glass
window and stick my thumbs
in my ears and wiggle my fingers and stick my
tongue out and cross my eyes at somebody
while I'm flashing them topless.

Monk: You obviously enjoy your job.

Fyre: It's fun. How somebody could not have fun
there is beyond me. There are two
kinds of people in the world. People who
masturbate. And people who lie about it.
So, why lie. And the Lusty Lady is a good outlet
because, as I say to customers about
them masturbating in front of me and things like
that, imagine if you went to the Space
Needle for dinner, by yourself. Beautiful place,
great food, nice view, great service.
Wouldn't it be better if you had someone to
enjoy it with. So that's pretty much
how I look at it.